Benton Phase biface production for exchange: analysis of a lithic reduction area at site 40HO13

ABSTRACT

Excavations at site 40HO13 in Houston County, Tennessee, documented three prehistoric lithic reduction areas associated with a Benton Phase occupation. The site was located in an area of abundant chert resources, notably Fort Payne chert. The paper focuses on lithic data from one of the lithic concentrations. The analysis determined that the lithic concentrations were the result of biface manufacture. Bifaces were roughed out at the source location. Knapping on site reduced these bifaces to late-stage bifaces. A large number of bifaces (1,453 estimated) were produced within the one concentration. It is argued that these bifaces were not used on site but were transported to other locations for further reduction and use and represent items manufactured for the purpose of exchange. It is suggested that these bifaces may have been exchanged with groups inhabiting the Central Basin area of Tennessee.

KEYWORDS:

• Middle Archaic
• lithic analysis
• biface production
• production for exchange

Acknowledgments

Excavations at 40HO13 were conducted while the author was employed by the Transportation Center at the University of Tennessee. Phase II archaeological test excavations were conducted during July and August 1990. Subsequently, a Phase III data recovery program was undertaken between December 3, 1990, and March 23, 1991. The author would like to thank the many people who worked both in the field and the laboratory to complete this project. Funding for the project was provided through the Federal Highway Administration and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (Project Number 42005-9225-14). The excavations were conducted in conjunction with the relocation of State Route 149, approximately 1 km north of Erin, Tennessee. Thad Bissett kindly read and commented on an earlier draft of this paper. Comments provided by the three anonymous reviewers for Southeastern Archaeology helped to clarify my arguments and resulted in a much better paper. Materials are curated with the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Field notes and all artifacts are curated with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Nashville, Tennessee.

Notes

1 Basic information concerning the local distribution of chert was obtained from http://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/state.php?state=TN on December 2, 2014. Layers were downloaded and examined in Google Earth. These data provided basic information concerning what chert resources were potentially sources of tool stone for prehistoric knappers in the area.

 

Additional information

Funding

Funding for the project was provided through the Federal Highway Administration and the Tennessee Department of Transportation [Project Number 42005-9225-14].

Notes on contributors

Andrew P. Bradbury

Andrew P. Bradbury is a principal investigator and lithic analyst with Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc. Knoxville, Tennessee. He has worked in various aspects of the CRM industry for 40 years. His research interests include lithic technology, hunter-gatherers, and Archaic period in the Southeastern United States.